


How (not) to relationship

by ximeria



Series: 2017 Bimonthly Shorts (x-men AUs) [18]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Control Issues, M/M, Power Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 22:17:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12094626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximeria/pseuds/ximeria
Summary: Charles is well aware that his relationship with his boss is beyond fucked up. It's never ending entertainment to Raven, but to Charles it's beginning to wear him down.





	How (not) to relationship

Charles is well aware that his relationship with his boss is fucked up.

It's beyond fucked up, really.

It's also what makes his darling sister laugh herself sick whenever it comes up in conversation. Which is does rather often, as she's the only one who really knows about it and she finds it utterly ridiculous and makes him talk about it, especially after plying him with booze.

The problem is, that Charles has painted himself into a corner, and it's a possibility that the paint will never dry.

He hunkers down and focuses on the numbers, ignores the hum of minds in the vicinity. He's been working at Lehnsherr Enterprises for nearly half a year now, and from the beginning he tried to avoid his boss. Mostly because Erik Lehnsherr is the cause of most of Charles' headaches. The man projects. Especially when he's annoyed and or angry.

Which seems to be most of the time. The man works himself into a state beyond high strung and stressed out on a good day.

The headaches turned out to be the least of his worries, though, and there are days where Charles wishes that the headaches had stayed his only problem with Lehnsherr.

The first time he told his sister about it, she'd misunderstood and thought that Lehnsherr had forced himself on Charles - a ridiculous notion, really, since Charles is perfectly capable of defending himself. Hello, powerful telepath here.

Charles doesn't see it as Lehnsherr forcing himself on him - it's not that he doesn't like it and he knows he should have stopped it the first time it happened - it had simply taken him by surprise and by now… well, Charles doesn't quite know how to bring it up, let alone stop it.

He'd been the unfortunate only target in Lehnsherr's office and somehow the cranky asshole that is his boss had ripped Charles for something he definitely hadn't done and Charles had finally been fed up. And it had ended with Lehnsherr face down on his own desk with Charles' hand down his pants, his boss moaning magnificently. Charles wishes he could say he didn't remember the feel of it, but he'd be lying. He remembers the heaviness of Lehnsherr's erection, by now a familiar feel. Much like Lehnsherr's mouth around his own cock is.

Every time Charles has tried to work up the courage to confront Lehnsherr, they've either been interrupted or Lehnsherr has bolted.

Or Charles has lost his momentum. There are days where he wishes his ethics weren't so damned waterproof. He's been aware, from early childhood, that using his gift indiscriminately always comes back to bite him in the arse. So he doesn't. He knows he can dive into Lehnsherr's mind and actually turn him away, but something always stops him. He almosts wants to call it a fragility, but Lehnsherr is anything but fragile, on the contrary. He's strong, independent and stubborn as hell.

And this fine Friday, at least, Charles manages to get through the day and out the door by four in the afternoon. No Lehnsherr in sight. He's aware he'll have to deal with all this, because he's getting to the point where he can tell the stress is beginning to get to him. He hasn't even gone out to any pubs or bars for ages, not feeling comfortable if he does pull and the pullee turns out to be worth keeping. Because then he'll really have to put a stop to Lehnsherr.

Charles walks through the park on his way to his metro station. There's plenty of people there, but he knows the lesser used paths and it means, for a few minutes, he can allow himself to breathe deeply and just ...be.

There's the thud-thud-thud of someone running and Charles keeps to the side of the path. The local joggers know these paths as well and while they're a bit more uneven than the main paths, they seek them for the same reason that Charles does. Less people.

Charles doesn't realize that he's checking out the arse of the guy who runs past him until the same moment that the jogger slows to a stop and Charles knows with a sinking feeling, that he knows that arse. Intimately.

"Mr. Xavier," Lehnsherr says, turning around and staring at Charles, looking about as trapped as Charles feels. He makes to take a step forward, towards Charles, then backs up two steps instead.

"Mr. Lehnsherr," Charles responds, gripping the strap of his messenger bag.

It's a stalemate, a mexican standoff, or whatever you want to call it. Taking a deep breath, Charles starts walking forward, it's a public park, he'll look foolish if he turns around and walks in the other direction just because he's run into Erik Lehnsherr and his heart is racing like crazy.

He's level with Lehnsherr and a small voice in the back of his head is hysterically telling him that he might just make it. He's past him by a half-step when Lehnsherr's hand closes around his wrist and Charles forgets to block him for a few seconds.

So far he's kept his telepathy under lock and key whenever he's been touching Lehnsherr, only getting the lust and need from him, always keeping well away from anything else.

This time he's getting so much more and in the split second they are both frozen to the path, Charles _sees_ it. As Lehnsherr moves to reel him in, Charles stops him. He doesn't put on a hand to do so. He curls himself around Lehnsherr's mind and freezes the whole situation.

He needs a moment to _think_. He needs a moment to peel aside all the conflicting emotions he's being bombarded with. And he gets it. He gets it in a way that he hasn't expected to ever do from the first time he'd laid eyes on Lehnsherr and thought that was a fine piece of man and if he hadn't been Charles' boss, he'd so have tapped that. He gets it in a way that he hadn't the first, second or third time Lehnsherr had bent over for him.

So much frustration, such inability to function socially with other people, to seek out what he needed. To seek out someone who could strip him of his inhibitions and his status as boss, the man in control.

Charles wonders how much stress he could have avoided if he'd just caught all this the first time it happened. He gently peels Lehnsherr's fingers off his wrist, the man still frozen in place, his mind running in circles.

Charles does what he can to quiet it. "I'm sorry I didn't see," Charles says, reaching up to cup Lehnsherr's cheek. "Go home, Mr. Le-" he smiles softly. "Go home, Erik - this is not what you want, not here at least."

He'll need pointers, he knows people who are into dominance even if it has never been his scene. Maybe he should consider letting someone else do this, because it might damage his position in the company. Yet, he can't quite get himself to imagine anyone else touching Lehnsherr, the possessiveness a surprise to himself as well.

He'd been expecting a quiet Friday night, but obviously he'll have to make some phone calls. Maybe Emma will help him. They've always been good at sharing knowledge since high-school and he knows Emma can help.

Lehnsherr is still frozen in his tracks and Charles feels a little bad about it, about holding him. If he was getting any sort of panic from him, he would let go, but oddly enough, Lehnsherr isn't fighting him. It's weirdly wonderful to feel his affinity for metal and magnetic fields as an added layer and Charles wishes he could spend time on this alone.

But there are more important things to do. He keeps his hand against the rough gingery scruff that dusts Lehnsherr's jaw. "Go home, Erik. Take a shower, get some rest." He takes a deep breath. He knows he can't force Lehnsherr away completely. It would take too much tampering with his mind. Not to mention, he's not sure he wants to. Right now he's tired to the bone, but there's a rush of energy flowing through his system at the mere thought of not only fixing this _thing_ between them, but maybe, just _maybe_ helping Lehnsherr out. "If you truly want this, come to my place tomorrow night. Bring an overnight bag." Charles drops his address and a time into Lehnsherr's mind.

He's about to let go, then tilts Lehnsherr's face a little and presses a kiss to his forehead. Anything else would be wrong to do, here and now, with Lehnsherr unable to move. Charles steps back and makes sure he fades from Lehnsherr's view. The man shakes his head, looking a little dazed. He turns and continues down the path, the way he'd been going before passing Charles.

There's an odd lightness to his shoulders and the way he holds his head as he sets off again, long legs taking him away from Charles in only a few heartbeats.

Charles stares after him, for a moment, feeling oddly light himself. His tiredness is inconsequential as he pulls out his phone.

"Emma? Hello darling." Charles shifts his messenger bag to the other shoulder before continuing his trek towards his metro station. "I know it's a short notice, but could I perhaps take you out for dinner tonight? I need your help with something." Charles grins when the answer is affirmative and as they agree on a time and place, Charles does wonder if he's taking on too much. It would be so much easier if Lehnsherr wasn't his boss, but it doesn't mean he can't do this. Doesn't mean he doesn't want it. It just means he needs to tread carefully.

The End


End file.
